The US Open is his unless there's another tornado. Wimbledon - Federer will be 32 at the time, Murray has lost the last 3 matches against Djokovic. I guess the only question is the FO cause we haven't seen Nadal in a decade. Thoughts?

The US Open is his unless there's another tornado. Wimbledon - Federer will be 32 at the time, Murray has lost the last 3 matches against Djokovic. I guess the only question is the FO cause we haven't seen Nadal in a decade. Thoughts?

I think he--more than anyone of his generation--is capable of winning the all-important Grand Slam, but he would need to modify his schedule and not beat himself up at too many minor events along the way. The biggest test will be the French Open--and how well the returning Nadal (assuming he will show up) will play. I'm not--for a moment--saying he needs to face someone in the final other than Nadal in order to win a FO title (*cough*Fed*cough*), but Nadal on clay will be a grueling thing to get through.

Nadal won't be ready to defend his title. This will probably be the year Nole takes him out at the french. If Nadal makes it that far. Nole can win in Flushing easy. The only question will be Wimbeldon.

Djokovic won't win Wimbledon, all the top guys are prone to upsets in the early rounds. Last year was the best example with Nadal losing to Rosol and Fed 2 points away from going away the day after against Benneteau. If it has to be the boring Djokovic-Murray match up I will favour Murray on grass. By the USO Nadal should (hopefully) be back as a contender and can be a threat if he's healthy.

I doubt it. I dont think he will be that dominant. He has a good shot to win the French this year, but if Nadal returns like his old self he probably wins it. I dont see him winning Wimbledon, and would give any of Murray, Nadal, or Federer a better shot to win it at this point in time. He could win it again, just dont think he is the favorite. U.S Open he has a good shot but so does Murray.

The US Open is his unless there's another tornado. Wimbledon - Federer will be 32 at the time, Murray has lost the last 3 matches against Djokovic. I guess the only question is the FO cause we haven't seen Nadal in a decade. Thoughts?

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Way too early to speculate. Yes, he has a chance. But Nadal (and Fed, Murray and Delpo have chances too) can stop him at the French. Any number of players can stop him at Wimbledon. And at the US - well, he's the favourite, but not by a massive margin.

Let's not forget that save for a bad line call, Novak would have had to break Stans serve to stay in the tournament at 4-4 against Stan.

And had Murray won the tiebreak or broken Novak in that game at the start of the second, he might have won it.

It's not like Novak looked completely unbeatable. And this is his best surface.

Nadal won't be ready to defend his title. This will probably be the year Nole takes him out at the french. If Nadal makes it that far. Nole can win in Flushing easy. The only question will be Wimbeldon.

This may be the easiest year to achieve something like that (for the top player of the era, now Djokovic).

Why?

1) There has never been an era in tennis where the four GS had such similar conditions as they have today.

2) There has never been an era in tennis where everybody played basically the same style as they do today.

3) The only reason Federer didn't win the Calendar GS was that Nadal was almost unbeatable in RG, but now we really don't know what level will Nadal be able to achieve again if he comes back. So in the moment Nadal declines (and I think it has already happened), the best player of this era (now it is Djokovic) has a great chance to win the four GS in the same season because there won't be a Nadal to shut the door at RG.

4) In this special homogenized era, the only thing that can stop the top player of the era is another one of the top-4, but now Nadal is missing in action, Federer is not at his best anymore and so you have almost only Murray to stop Djokovic. But Murray is like a clon of Djokovic, only that Djokovic is a bit better.

5) Djokovic biggest problem may be Wimbledon, and that is because he doesn't move there nowhere near as good as he moves on hard courts. If Djokovic learns how to move well on grass (he could try to learn it from Federer and Nadal, the two best movers on grass from this generation), he could win WB again this year.

But the funny thing is that it is not that simple. Nobody knows what will really happen, and perhaps it will surprise us all, maybe the most unthinkable things could happen this year.

LOL none of those players are stopping Djokovic at RG, get real. Del Potro is his slave, outside of grass, even on Del Potros best surface of hard courts, and matches up horribly with Djokovic. Murray might and hopefully will be improved again on clay this year, atleast his 2011 level, but he wont beat Djokovic in a best of 5 on clay when he rarely does it even on hards. Federer isnt beating Djokovic in any slam again, except maybe if they play at Wimbledon in the semis. Nadal is the only real possible danger.

I'll say this....he is in a good position for events to allow him to do it. The Rafa clay situation we don't know how it will turn out (especially at the French). If Djokovic wins the French, then we really might start considering it.

I doubt it. I dont think he will be that dominant. He has a good shot to win the French this year, but if Nadal returns like his old self he probably wins it. I dont see him winning Wimbledon, and would give any of Murray, Nadal, or Federer a better shot to win it at this point in time. He could win it again, just dont think he is the favorite. U.S Open he has a good shot but so does Murray.

I think this year may be his best shot at a French title. Even if Nadal comes back, it's hard for me to think that he'll be playing at a level close to his best, even on clay. And even if he does come back, does he still have that aura of invincibility on clay? Or will players find the confidence to beat him knowing that he, possibly, may not be at his best?

He has a good shot at a Wimbledon title as well, though, I think Murray can beat him there and Federer will always have a great shot there as well. I can see players like del Potro and Tomic troubling him there, too. It's not like he's never struggled against them before and they are constantly improving.

I don't really think the U.S. Open needs much explanation. I think he can safely make the final there with little opposition, unless he meets an on-fire Federer or Murray.

His biggest obstacles are Federer and Murray, and possibly Nadal. I can't gauge how Nadal will come back and how much of a factor he'll be on grass and hard courts. A lot depends on how future draws pan out and, especially, where Federer and Murray land if their rankings exchange. I badly want to see Nadal come back to playing a high level of tennis because, if he does, we could be in for another awesome year of tennis!

The top four are so close, I don't see how one guy wins all four slams. A healthy Nadal on the slower surfaces is a huge danger. On the faster surfaces Fed's game can be so dangerous. And they can all win on any of these surfaces. About the only case you can make for a lock is a healthy Rafa on clay, but even that's really close, and he might not be completely healthy.

I think this year may be his best shot at a French title. Even if Nadal comes back, it's hard for me to think that he'll be playing at a level close to his best, even on clay. And even if he does come back, does he still have that aura of invincibility on clay? Or will players find the confidence to beat him knowing that he, possibly, may not be at his best?

He has a good shot at a Wimbledon title as well, though, I think Murray can beat him there and Federer will always have a great shot there as well. I can see players like del Potro and Tomic troubling him there, too. It's not like he's never struggled against them before and they are constantly improving.

I don't really think the U.S. Open needs much explanation. I think he can safely make the final there with little opposition, unless he meets an on-fire Federer or Murray.

His biggest obstacles are Federer and Murray, and possibly Nadal. I can't gauge how Nadal will come back and how much of a factor he'll be on grass and hard courts. A lot depends on how future draws pan out and, especially, where Federer and Murray land if their rankings exchange. I badly want to see Nadal come back to playing a high level of tennis because, if he does, we could be in for another awesome year of tennis!

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Excellent post. You are probably my favorite Federer fan poster, along with zagor.

He will win the USO. Probably RG unless Nadal comes back to his level soon enough. But I don't think he'll win Wimbledon. Maybe if he wins RG it will give him a lot of confidence to do it though.

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I think the draw will be crucial. If Djokovic is drawn with both Nadal and Murray on the same side at the USO, there's no telling what will happen. Heck for all we know, Djokovic could be taken out by Tsonga if they meet in the QFs of any Slam.

LOL none of those players are stopping Djokovic at RG, get real. Del Potro is his slave, outside of grass, even on Del Potros best surface of hard courts, and matches up horribly with Djokovic. Murray might and hopefully will be improved again on clay this year, atleast his 2011 level, but he wont beat Djokovic in a best of 5 on clay when he rarely does it even on hards. Federer isnt beating Djokovic in any slam again, except maybe if they play at Wimbledon in the semis. Nadal is the only real possible danger.

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And Stan W. would have absolutely no chance against Djoko at the Aus right? Stranger things have happened. Notice - I did not say any of them are favourites against Djoko at the French. But all of them have a decent enough chance to deserve mentioning.

And Stan W. would have absolutely no chance against Djoko at the Aus right? Stranger things have happened. Notice - I did not say any of them are favourites against Djoko at the French. But all of them have a decent enough chance to deserve mentioning.

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Did Wawrinka actually beat Djokovic. When is the last time Djokovic lost in a slam in a big upset. Federer beating Djokovic at the 2011 French wasnt even a big upset like it would be today, as Djokovic was still only a 2 slammer at that point, and had not yet convinced of his dominance in a best of 5 format, and Federer wasnt even 30 yet.

Djokovic is also more likely if he loses to either lose to another top player who is thought to have a viable chance against him on a given surface (aka only Nadal on clay), or to lose in an earlier round when he is still possibly not totally in the groove yet. Wawrinka would have no chance vs Djokovic in a semifinal, and those others while better players would have close to nothing in a RG semifinal at this point too.

Particularly, Djokovic differentiates himself in this era of defensive baseliners with

Aggressive tennis on break points.

Question, currently, is whether Federer-Nadal can respond to this raised level of tennis.
IMHO, Nadal clearly changed his tactics but still not enough outside clay.
Supposedly, Federer has been working on these last few years with coaches like
Cahill and Annacone, but he still plays way too conservative/defensive on break chances, IMHO.

The US Open is his unless there's another tornado. Wimbledon - Federer will be 32 at the time, Murray has lost the last 3 matches against Djokovic. I guess the only question is the FO cause we haven't seen Nadal in a decade. Thoughts?